The Leopard of The Lair
by PurplePenguin50
Summary: Taylor has returned! Just in time for the turtles' 21st mutation day. But what happens when one of Donnie's machines malfunctions and turns back the hand of time? Can Raph handle the new responsibilities that come with being a caregiver? What role with this have on his relationship? RaphxTaylor. Sequel to 'Leopard in the Night'. Disclaimer: I don't TMNT
1. Since You've Been Gone

**Hey everyone! It's been a while, I know, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. Chapter 1! I hope you are excited as I am. Okay, first, two little notes. One: The turtles, Taylor, and everyone are twenty-one. 2) It is written in Raph's Point of View. Also, feel free to check out the poll on my profile page. I am seriously considering writing a third installment, but I want some help in deciding. Enjoy!**

**~PurplePenguin50~**

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It's been six years since Taylor left. I hoped she would come back after about maybe two, three years, but that's not the case. Splinter says she'll come back when she's ready but, I still miss her. I never blamed her for leaving. It was those stupid Kraang. I was relieved she was so willing to do anything to get better. All of that stress and frustration could have killed her. You would so much as put a hand on her and she would flinch. Truthfully it broke my heart. Life had finally turned in her favor and something like that had to happen. It just reset everything she had hoped for, worked for, and earned. She almost ended up dying, and there was nothing I could do. Fate was the one responsible for us finding her so quickly, for not tripping any alarms on the way in or out, for keeping the entire Kraang army from noticing us, for her being alive. Now I sound like Leo, but it's true. Sometimes I wish it was me instead of her. I knew if it was me I would be fine as long as I knew she was ok.

For the first year and a half I worried non-stop. What if she got sick? What if she got hit by a car? What if she was captured again? My mind was set to rest when I had thought about her past and how she survived those nine years since her parent's death. Sure she's part leopard now but, none the less, alive. It's going to be our twenty-first mutation day pretty soon, and I know Taylor must be at least twenty to twenty-one by now. I haven't really changed much in the past few years. My voice got a little deeper and I'm a little taller, but nothing major. I sometimes wonder how big she's gotten. I'm not sure about leopards, but she must've gotten taller at least. Spike's doing well. He grew a little bit. My days are all the same though; train, relax, eat, patrol, go to bed, get up and do it again. I think my brothers have already accepted the fact that Taylor may never come back, but I'm still holding out. Every night I look at the picture book she made for me and re-live all of our memories. I miss holding her in my arms, going swimming, spending time together, and when she used to sneak in my bed during the night because she got lonely. You just kind of get used to stuff like that, and then when it doesn't happen anymore it feels like a part of you is missing. I was used to waking up in the morning with her always being by my side. I always used to sing to her when she woke up from a nightmare. It never failed in calming her down. As long as she was happy and safe I was putty in her hands, and paws. I've been keeping tabs on Blue for her. He looks just like her; soft expression, blue eyes you could just get lost in, that spunky smile. I hope that doesn't make me weird. Sometimes I'll get real excited when I get up in the morning and rush out into the living room hoping she came back during the night. Nothing.

My brothers have kept busy since she left. Leo has been having April search the globe for Season 5 of Space Heroes on DVD. Personally I think she's getting annoyed because she's been spending more time at her Aunt's instead of the lair. She claims that she has to spend time with her aunt so she doesn't get suspicious, but I think differently. April always used to get Taylor to spend some 'girl time' with her even though before they left Taylor would always give me this look that said, "I'd rather be having 'Raph time' with popcorn and a movie in our room." We watched all of my favorite movies. I would have watched her favorites too but she had none. After that her favorites were the 'Iron Man' trilogy, the 'Avengers', 'R.I.P.D', the newer 'James Bond' movies and the 'Transformer' trilogy. It's amazing I can still remember all that, but love makes you do crazy things, I guess. Donnie has been making 'improved' house hold items. They all work pretty good but it took him a couple tries. The only thing we haven't tested out yet is the ice cream machine. It looks like something out of a horror movie. He says it's harmless, but I don't think any of us are going to take the chance. Besides, we already have ice cream, the nice, safe, store-bought kind. Mikey has mostly been playing video games; although he has taken up a new hobby, painting. Sensei gave him some paints one day and he's been at it ever since. Mikey's not a master or anything but he doesn't do a bad job. The miraculous thing is he stores it all in his room. I never thought that was possible. When I say he keeps everything in his room, he keeps _everything_ in his room. I'm afraid to go in there; I really don't want to know what it's like. I don't need any nightmares right now.

I wonder how Taylor's doing. She must be getting somewhat better, right? I mean, it's not like she's not coming back for a reason. Maybe something happened; oh my god something couldn't have happen could it!? No, Raphael, get a grip. She's fine it just...takes a while that's all. It seems like my mind is constantly on Taylor. I just want to see her so much. Oh great, now I'm gonna cry again. Just think about the happy thoughts, like when she comes back. Yeah, that's it; you're fine, see? I hope she comes back soon; I can't wait to tell her how much I love her.


	2. From A Homecoming To The Hand Of Time

**Okay, chapter 2! I just wanted to thank you guys for all of the views and reviews I got. You are all so awesome! Anyways this chapter is officially where the fun starts. Enjoy!**

**~PurplePenguin50~**

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Today's our twenty first Mutation Day and you know what that means! No training, no patrol, but still no Taylor. Even though it's not the first Mutation Day that she's not here I was hoping she would be here for this one.

I got up to Mikey in the kitchen making a cake out of pizza. "Good morning, Mikey." I said as I sat down at the table waiting for my coffee to be ready. Mikey turned away from the mess on the counter and gave me a ginormous hug. "Happy Mutation Day dude! Twenty one can you believe it?" "Yeah..." My face fell a little, my thoughts turning back to Taylor. He must've noticed because he put a hand on my shoulder. "Look bro...I know you miss her. I get that. Even though I don't know when she'll come back, I know she will." I brightened up a little knowing he understood how I felt. Mikey gave me a small smile and when back to his cake. Not long after Donnie and Leo came into the kitchen and started celebrating with Mikey. I just kind of drank my coffee and watched them.

After dinner we ate Mikey's cake. I never would have thought someone could manage to make a cake that tastes exactly like pizza. Only he would be able to pull off something like that, and Don's supposed to be the scientific one. Who would have guessed? Not even Donnie had managed to come up with it, and he was the one that had made an ice-cream machine look like a serial killer. When we were all finished I got up and headed towards my room. I walked across the living area, but stopped when I heard a faint sound coming from the entrance to our home. Normally I would have ignored it but this didn't sound like the normal riff-raff that came from the sewer. It sounded like someone or something running, and it was coming straight towards the lair. I peered into the darkness trying to figure out where it was coming from, but I could barely see five feet in front of me. All of a sudden something big and furry tackles me to the ground, yelling my name. There is only one thought that is going through my mind: Taylor!

"Raph!" She yells as she gets up off of me and changes back into a human. Taylor hasn't really changed much in the six years she's been away. She's got the same hair; short, white, and slightly spiked, the same skinny figure, and the same clothes. She's gotten a little taller and her muscles are a bit more toned. I jump up off the ground and give her a deep, passionate kiss, letting all the emotions I've felt since she left run wild. "I love you." "Love you, too." She replied as I went for another hug. I buried my face into her shoulder and enjoyed the closeness of each other. "I missed you so much." She smiled and lifted my head to rest in her hand. "Did you get my gift?" I nodded and continued to gaze into those beautiful icy blue eyes. "Later, can we look at it together?" I asked looking into those eyes. She nodded and gave me another kiss, which I welcomed happily. By now the guys had heard the commotion and came over to welcome back Taylor. She hugged all three of my brothers the stood next to me sliding her hand into mine. "So you guys are twenty one now?" Mikey hopped up and down excitedly. "Yeah, we are!" He rattled off his words about a hundred miles a minute how awesome it was being twenty-one until he was interrupted by Leo. "Mikey, I think Taylor's tired from her journey. She should probably get her rest." Taylor nodded and let go of my hand, much to my disappointment. "Actually guys, I could really go for something to eat right now." Donnie's face light up. "We could finally try out my ice-cream maker! I know I would enjoy some right now." Taylor shrugged. "Sure, I'll go for it." Donnie did a mini celebration before running off to get the machine. I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. "I'm not sure this is a good idea..." Leo put his arms around me and Taylor. "Come on, I'm sure it's not that bad. It just looks like something out of 1980's medieval horror movie that looks like it could send us all to our death..." He trailed off after seeing the death glare I was giving him. He really wasn't helping. At all. If anything he made it worse. Not like the kind of worse when you accidentally spill fruit punch on a rug that was already ugly to begin with. This is like if you tried to put out a fire with gasoline. W. O. R. S. E. Worse. Taylor must've sensed the uneasiness growing inside me because she re-gripped my hand and nudged my shoulder. "I don't think anything Donnie made could be," Her eyes widened when Donnie walked in with the machine. "That bad." The ice-cream maker made a rather loud noise as Don put it down on the table." He smiled widely. "So, who's first?" Everyone looked at each other before going over to where he was standing, no one answering his question. "Fine, I'll be the first to try it out, but you guys are going to be all over this once you see how well it works." He grabbed some stuff out of the fridge and put it into the top of the machine. Donnie plugged it in and hit the on switch. Nothing happened. He looked at us and gave an uneasy chuckle before banging on the maker. It buzzed to life and started shaking. "Uh, it's not supposed to do that." As he frantically tried to shut it off a purple laser blasted out of the machine and struck Taylor. A giant cloud of smoke filled the room as I desperately searched for her. Leo switched on the ceiling fan and the smoke quickly cleared. My heart dropped at what I saw. A pile of Taylor's clothes lay on the floor where she was standing, her not being in them. I probably would have cried right then and there if I was not extremely angry at Donnie. I turned towards my little brother and prepared to rip his shell off when Mikey grabbed my shoulders and turned me back towards the pile of clothes, which was moving slightly. Out of her blue shirt popped the cutest little leopard cub I've ever seen.


	3. He Did What Now?

**Hey guys! Chapter 3! I don't want to spoil anything so all I'm going to say is Donnie gets chewed out big time. Haha, get it? Anyways these chapter are a little shorter than Leopard in the Night but there will probably be more of them. Also don't forget about the poll on my profile about more stories. Enjoy!**

**~PurplePenguin50~**

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We must've stood there for what seemed like hours. All four of us were staring at the little cub while she stared back at us. None of us really knew what to do, so I guess it was up to me to do something. I guess 'Fearless' over there was too scared. Figures. I cautiously reached towards the little cat that I presumed was Taylor. She moved back slightly and I froze like a statue. She eyed me up and down before scenting my hand. A small smile appeared on her face as she rubbed her head into my hand. My heart leaped for joy when she realized who I was. I reached out a little more and she latched onto my hand with her front paws. I quickly brought her up and cradled her in the nook of my arm. She nuzzled her tiny little head into my plastron as I turned around to face my brothers. Mikey was ecstatic. "Awwww, she's so cute! She's just a little fluff ball..." Taylor chuckled a little as he rubbed her belly. Leo eventually came out of his state of shock and petted her as well, but when Donnie went to give her a little rub she growled and tried to nip at his fingers. Taylor maybe a little kid, uh, cub, but she defiantly knows what's up. However, we were still faced with a problem, what are we going to do? Being the smart twenty- one year old that I am I already had an answer.

"Donatello did what?!" Splinter asked/yelled as I handed him the little Taylor-tot. Leo stepped in between me and Donnie. "Well, he kind of...turned Taylor onto a little kid." Master Splinter closed his eyes and sighed as Taylor swiped at his beard. "How old is she exactly?" Don stepped forward again and tried to examine Taylor, who wouldn't have it. "She's about two and a half month's leopard wise. I'm not sure about her human form." Mikey, who had been unusually quiet finally, spoke up. "Wait, why doesn't she change back?" Donnie shrugged as Taylor finally caught Splinter's beard and was handed back to me by a sore Master Splinter. "She probably doesn't know how, or she doesn't realize she's half and half." Sensei nodded rubbing his chin. "It is getting late; we will figure something out in the morning. You all are dismissed." Donnie rushed to get out of the room before me, Leo, and Mikey filed out. "Except for Donatello." Don winced as his name was called. He's probably safer with Splinter anyway, I wouldn't want anything to happen, you know. Hehehehe. But, still if glares could kill he would have been dead for the fifth time in the past hour.

I walked into my room with Taylor, who was making a life goal out of climbing up to my shoulders and reach my head. I closed the door so she could get out into the rest of the lair. Putting down the little cat in her hammock, I pulled the cover over her, kissed her forehead and said goodnight. I turned out the light and hopped into bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I was sound asleep when something nudged my hand, which was hanging off the side of my bed. My eyes opened and immediately were greeted by the green glow of my alarm clock. 3:30, new record. My attention turned to the thing that woke me up, or should I say person. I looked down and saw Taylor. Her bright blue eyes glowed in the darkness of my room. "What's the matter?" I asked expecting her to say something, I almost forgot she couldn't. She just kind of looked at me. Even though she didn't say anything I kind of already knew what she wanted. I sighed. "Fine, you can come up." She squeaked and climbed up onto my bed. When we were younger she always used to crawl into bed with me, saying she was lonely. I know what you're thinking, but it was nothing like that. I think she just liked the companionship part of it, and the feeling of being protected by someone; me. I guess I would want it like that too, if I spent nine years of my life alone. Nobody really knows that but me. I never say anything because one time Mikey accidentally said something and it set her off. She kind of rage-changed and man, I thought I was scary. But that doesn't really matter much now. Taylor crawled under the covers and popped up on the pillow next to mine. I watched her as she stretched and finally lay down. I rubbed her furry little head and she smiled at me. Even though she's two and a half months old, I'm happy she's here with me. She's the best Mutation Day present I ever could have asked for.


	4. Let The Games Begin

**The games have begun my friends, the games have begun. :)**

**~PurplePenguin50~**

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I was enjoying a nice dreamless sleep when my alarm went off. Great. I turned over and punched my clock, as usual, and it stopped. My eyes fluttered open and I visualized what my morning was going to be like. Train? Definitely. I'll maybe get some breakfast if Leo hasn't already finished the milk. I guess it's time to get up, hit the bathroom, and brush my teeth... Wait, I just thought of something. If Taylor's a little kid, well cub, then how's she going to get to the bathroom? And I closed the door! I shot upright in bed and scanned the room. Taylor was still asleep, being sprawled out on the pillow. I checked my bed, nothing. My gaze went almost immediately to the floor. I noticed a puddle in the corner of the room by the door. I groaned and flopped back down. If Donnie makes it past breakfast alive, he'll be the luckiest turtle on Earth. I got up and walked towards the closet to get the cleaning supplies. Grabbing them and turning around, I noticed Don doing push-ups in the dojo. I couldn't help the wide grin that spread onto my face. After all, he did turn my girlfriend into a toddler. I returned to my room and saw Taylor lying facing the door, probably waiting for me to come back. I pointed to the puddle on the floor. "Really?" She just kind of shrugged and gave me this look, like, "Hey, you're the smart guy that closed the door." I couldn't blame her. She would've probably gone elsewhere, preferably Donnie's room, if I left the door open. Once I cleaned up the mess, I gestured her towards the door and she happily scurried out. We all ate breakfast, before tending to Taylor. Splinter suggested giving her some milk. I ended up giving her three bowls of it because of the hungry look she was giving me. I texted April and asked her to buy us four more cartons of milk and three and a half pounds of ground beef. She texted me back asking if Taylor was back and if she was then what we're naming the baby. I kept reading it over and over, trying to muster enough courage to text her back. After about an hour I just decided to ignore the message. Master Splinter called us for training and we walked in on an exhausted looking Donatello. We all stifled our laughs in fear of joining him as he continued his push-ups. Taylor ran up to him and jumped on his shell. She smiled happily as she sat. I took out my T-Phone and took some pictures before sensei came in and we began.

About half way through our session Splinter suddenly jumps and turns around fast on his heel. I glance over towards the pillow Taylor is supposed to be sitting on and finds that she's not there. I bet you ten dollars I know where she's at. I looked around Master Splinter and sure enough there she was. Splinter towered over the little leopard. Her eyes grew wide as she flattened herself to the ground. The little bite mark on sensei's tail told me everything. Taylor must have spotted it, crept over, and pounced. She slowly inched her way around him, his gaze following her. She tried to make a run for it, coming towards me. "Stop!" As Splinter yelled she stopped dead in her tracks. The room fell silent, no one dared to move. "Sit!" Surprisingly she did as she was told. "Lay Down!" She lowered herself to the floor. "Roll Over." Uh-oh. Taylor always hated when someone treated her like a dog. She was part cat, and everybody knew it. Secondly, she was a human too, and if anyone ever said otherwise, bones would be broken. It's funny; I think I've rubbed off on her a little bit. She glanced back at him; he raised his brow waiting for her to carry out the command. Taylor finally gave in and rolled over, which I might add was the cutest thing ever, but sensei wasn't done yet. "Now who is the dominant one?" She crawled towards him, her tail between her legs. Once she reached him she lay down. "And whose tail is off limits?" She put a paw out in front of her gesturing towards my father and looked up at him. A smile tugged at his lips. "You are all dismissed." She charged towards me and leapt into my arms. When we walked out I looked down at her. "You really cut it close, kitty." She smiled and winked at me before swatting me with her paw. I'm pretty sure if she could talk she would have called me 'Raphie'.


	5. Breaking News: She's Not Pregnant!

**Hey everyone here's the next chapter! Just a minor warning before you start reading, this chapter contains**** suggestive content****. It's not really bad, but that is why it is rated T. Enjoy!**

**~PurplePenguin50~**

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After training Taylor and I went looking for Donnie in his lab. We still needed to get the whole bathroom thing under control. Obviously the first thing that came to mind was a litter box. It's easy to access and she won't really need any help, well, besides cleaning it. On second thought, maybe sensei can persuade Donnie into doing that. I am not as mad as before but trust me; he's still sitting in some hot water. We walked into his lab and spotted him. He was tinkering with a gadget on his work table. I picked up Taylor and walked around to the front of the table so I was right in front of him. "What can I do for you, Raph?"He said without looking up from his work. I have to hold back the temptation to smack him upside the head. He knows darn well, what I was there for, it involves Taylor. Sheesh and he's the genius. "I need a litter box." He still didn't look up. "Why on Earth do you need a litter box?" I rolled my eyes and held Taylor out right in front of his face. "Remember the whole turning my girlfriend into a toddler mishap?" That got his attention. He looked up to find his head only centimeters away from Taylor's. She growled and he jumped. "I don't know Raph, where are we going to find cat litter in the sewers?" I set Taylor down on the work table. "That's not the problem Don. We have April for that. I just need something to put it in." Donnie nodded and walked over to the closet. He rummaged through all of his collected junk from the last few years. "Haven't you considered potty-training her?" Taylor and looked at each other. To tell the truth it had crossed my mind but just the awkwardness factor was enough to be pushed out of my mind. And anyways, I'm not really completely sure how a leopard, um, works. After a silence and no answer Donnie forgot about the question and walked back to the table box in hand. He set it down in front of Taylor. "Here, try this." She stepped inside and the tip of the side came up to about her nose. Donnie said that once it's filled it should be good. "So, how far are you in being able to turn her back to normal?" I couldn't help it, I had to ask. I didn't want to in case it was something along the lines of months while at the same time it could be only about a week. He rubbed the back of his head and thought for a moment. "Well...this," he pulled over a little machine that looked like a hand-held microwave, "should be able to age her back to twenty-one. Once I make the liquid it goes in here for thirteen and a half minutes. The radiation waves from the machine would alter the liquid to that when she drinks it activates the energy already inside her so hypothetically she would be changing herself." Taylor squeaked obviously happy about possibly being turned back. "The only problem is that it isn't tested, and I kind of need an itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny, blood sample." He pulled out a needle with a red line half way up the side. Taylor looked like she had just seen an axe murderer. She had tried to make herself as small as possible and maybe not be noticed, but didn't succeed. She tried to run but I caught her. I brought her back to the table and set her down. I was kneeling so that my arm was around her and she couldn't see the needle Don was about to put in her fore-arm. He rubbed her arm with alcohol, which she's covered in fur so I'm not really sure about the logic there but afterwards he drew the blood and it was all over. She had squirmed a little bit during it. I guess to her size that needle must've been huge. Don put the sample in a test tube and set it in one of those little racks. I let go of Taylor and she ran out of the lab. I felt bad but I knew she would forgive me. "So, how long is it going to take to make that liquid?" He sighed. "About a couple days more or less." I thanked him and walked out to go find Taylor. The first place I looked was my room; naturally that's where she would go. Sure enough there she was. She had pulled out the drawers on my dresser in attempt to climb to the top, where I had put Blue. She only had one more drawer to go, but that was the exact drawer I did not ever want her to see what was in, well, until I was ready. I ran over to her and lifted her up to the top so she wouldn't open the drawer. She was a little annoyed because she wanted to do it herself, but she forgot all about it and happily tackled Blue. She sat and hugged him. I reclosed all the dresser drawers and grabbed my T-phone. Since Taylor was preoccupied I figured I would take this chance and explain things to April. I slipped outside my room and dialed the number. It rang a few times before she finally picked up. "Raph! I'm so glad you called! So, how's the baby?" "That's the thing there is no..." "No words to describe how wonderful parenting is?" "No I..." "Is it a boy or a girl? OOOOhhhhh, I bet the name is beautiful, maybe Raphael Jr...?" "April..." "Or Taylor Jr. oh my gosh, are they a turtle or are they human and leopard like Taylor..." "April!" "Taylor must've been back for a while if you already got her pregnant..." "I DID NOT GET TAYLOR PREGNANT!" I must've really yelled because not only did April stop talking but my brothers and sensei in the living area also fell silent. They all looked at me. My face burned bright red. Even Taylor had come out and was now staring at me. Talk about awkward. That's when April finally started talking. "Well, that sucks." I was beyond confused. "Why does that suck for you?" "Because now I owe Mikey fifty bucks." I could not believe what I was hearing. "Wait, you and Mikey bet on whether I would get laid or not?!" "Pretty much." "Excuse me one second." I handed my T-Phone down to Taylor who happily took it from me. "MIKEY!" He jumped from the couch and ran screaming his pleas of mercy. "Ahhhh, no, Raph! Come on, it's not like it would have worked out for both of us! Ahhhh!" I didn't really care how it worked out, okay you got me, that was a lie, but I still don't like the fact that he was making bets on my love-life. So now I was chasing him and the funny thing was Splinter was just sitting there, Taylor had found a way to his lap and they both watched as I chased Mikey. Huh, I guess some things never change.


End file.
